\ 


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A/\  It  s 


A  STUDY  OF 


LIBRARY 


THINGS  THE  SCHOOL  of  the 

SHOULD  DO  FOR  UNIVERSITY  of  ILLINOIS. 
THE  CHILD, 

SUGGESTIONS  ON 
STUDY  OF 
U.  S.  HISTORY, 

AND  ARITHMETIC, 

AND  SOME  GAINS. 


BY  THE  STATE 


SUPERINTENDENT 


OF  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS 


a 


OF  MAINE. 


1902. 


SOME  THINGS  THE  COMMON  SCHOOL  SHOULD 
DO  FOR  THE  CHILD. 


It  would  be  better  for  our  children,  and  hence  best  for  all  institutions 
with  which  they  are,  or  may  be  associated,  if  the  school  gave  them  bet¬ 
ter  ideas  of  the  relative  value  of  facts.  These  stubborn  things  have 
always  been  with  us  and  will  remain  to  the  end.  We  should,  however, 
see  clearly  that  isolated  details  are  difficult  to  master,  and  when  mastered, 
become  burdens,  increasing  in  weight  as  they  increase  in  number  and  as 
we  add  to  the  length  of  time  they  are  to  be  retained.  When  related  and 
and  we  see  this  relation,  they  are  of  service,  because  they  give  us  an 
understanding  of  the  principles  underlying  them,  and  a  conception  of 
the  teachings  they  embody.  Unless  facts  illuminate  or  stimulate  our 
investigations,  it  would  be  better  to  house  them  in  books  than  in  heads. 
If  stored  away  in  the  mind,  by  a  conscious  effort,  they  tend  to  stupify 
and  paralyze.  One’s  information  becomes  a  means  of  grace  only  when 
he  knows  a  thing  so  well  that  he  is  unconscious  of  his  knowledge.  We 
are  learning  the  unwisdom  of  trying  to  become  wise  by  making  ourselves 
walking  encyclopedias.  We  are  beginning  to  discover  that  these  labors 
not  only  sap  the  vitality  out  of  life,  but  communicate  to  it  a  certain 
wooden  quality  which  takes  from  living  its  warmth,  richness,  power. 
The  man  who  is  satisfied  with  details  grows  narrower  with  the  years 
and  leaner  as  his  horde  increases.  The  miserly  spirit  is  as  surely  devel¬ 
oped  by  this  process  as  it  is  in  the  poor  wretch  who  gloats  over  his  shining 
accumulations.  Such  a  one  has  reached  his  limit  of  usefulness  when  he 
has  told  the  few  things  he  thinks  he  knows. 

The  work  of  the  public  school  develops  keenness  of  observation  and 
skill  in  handling  material  in  its  student  force,  and  hence  the  child  comes 
to  have  an  unusual  facility  in  doing  things ;  but  the  development  of  these 
powers  without  the  safeguard  of  a  high  moral  sense  tends  to  produce 
rebels  instead  of  safe  citizens. 

Pedagogical  vagaries  have  taken  on  many  forms,  but  perhaps  the  least 
excusable  is  found  in  -the  so-called  enrichment  of  our  courses  of  study. 
These  additions  have  given  us  many  new  subjects  and  an  almost  unend¬ 
ing  list  of  new  topics  to  be  strained  through  the  sieve  in  the  top  of  the 
child’s  head.  The  result  has  been  that  the  child  has  come  to  place  a 
higher  estimate  on  the  form  than  on  the  life  it  shelters.  He  has  devel¬ 
oped  great  capacity  for  absorbing,  but  has  not  the  power  of  digesting 
the  facts  devoured;  hence,  he  has  become  the  least  interesting  and  the 


3 


i 


O 

ID 


r* 


0 

IL. 

C 


ft 


most  hopeless  of  intellectual  and  moral  dyspeptics.  He  suffers  from  all 
the  evils  incident  to  an  excessive  and  intoxicating  diet.  He  has  but 
little  of  that  staying  quality,  or  love  for  work  which  results  from  whole¬ 
some  conditions.  Even  the  physical  food  of  the  child  is  stimulating  and 
irritating  rather  than  satisfying  and  nourishing,  while  his  clothing  is 
designed  to  attract  the  attention  of  others  and  cultivate  the  vanity  of  the 
wearer. 

Our  teachers  are  coming  to  see  that  all  questions  are,  in  their  ultimate 
analysis,  moral  questions.  The  age  at  which  the  child  should  enter  school, 
the  length  of  time  he  should  remain  therein,  the  studies  he  should  pur¬ 
sue,  the  way  in  which  he  should  do  his  work,  the  spirit  which  should 
control  him,  the  purpose  he  should  have  in  life  and  his  willingness  to 
serve,  are  among  the  things  which  should  receive  the  first  consideration 
but  which  are  too  often  left  to  the  decision  of  accident.  The  child  can 
never  be  well  taught  until  those  having  the  direction  of  his  training  come 
to  see  that  they  are  responsible  for  fitting  a  human  being  to  become  a 
worthy  citizen  of  the  State.  Physical  surroundings,  mental  drill,  moral 
nurture  are  only  useful  so  far  as  they  contribute  to  this  end. 

The  schools  have  gone  much  too  far  in  directing  physical  action  and 
in  limiting  the  moral  judgment  of  the  child.  His  first  and  greatest  right  is 
the  right  to  grow,  physically  and  morally.  The  former  depends  upon 
proper  and  sufficient  food  and  exercise ;  the  latter  upon  counsel  and  guid¬ 
ance  and  also  upon  freedom  to  learn  through  his  mistakes.  If  all  acts  are 
performed  under  external  restraint,  the  actor  is  not  only  enfeebled,  but 
debased.  It  would  be  better  if  we  said  less  frequently  “don’t”  and  more 
frequently  permitted  the  child  to  learn,  from  experience,  the  evils  of 
wrong  doing  and  the  rewards  of  right  living.  Crutches  are  useful  to 
the  invalid,  but  crippling  to  the  robust.  Suggestion  and  even  compul¬ 
sion  have  their  place  in  the  training  of  the  child,  but  if  the  one  is  used 
~M:oo  frequently  or  the  other  is  insisted  upon  too  strenuously,  the  victim 
can  neither  go  afoot  nor  alone ;  he  can  neither  render  a  service  nor 
increase  his  ability  to  work. 

We  need  a  saner  plan  for  the  work  of  the  schoolroom.  Intelligent 
thoughtfulness  would  teach  us  that  facts  are  based  upon  simple  principles 
q  which  can  be  so  worded  as  to  be  easily  within  the  comprehension  of  the 
;  child.  Facts  and  processes  should  be  mastered  for  the  purpose  of  making 
principles,  not  only  comprehensible,  but  luminous.  When  one  under- 
j  ’  stands  the  principles  involved  in  facts  studied,  he  is  not  only  growing, 
but  is  nurturing  the  desire  for  growth,  and  still  better,  is  breeding  the 
wish  to  give  to  others  of  the  riches  which  flood  his  life  and  delight  his 
soul.  This  better  understanding  not  only  gives  zest  and  stimulus  to  work, 
but  also  develops  the  catholicity  of  spirit  necessary  to  intelligent  citizen¬ 
ship. 

We  often  wonder  why  many  of  the  so-called  best  people  in  the  world 
most  hinder  its  progress.  It  is  largely  duel  to  the  fact  that  they  have  become 
so  absorbed  in  existing  conditions  that  they  are  incapacitated  for  seeing 
either  the  genesis  or  the  final  conclusion  of  things.  When  the  problem 
in  which  they  are  especially  interested  seems  nearing  solution  they 
busy  themselves  with  placing  obstructions  in  the  way  of  further  progress. 


^ \&m 


4 


A  pupil  who  has  been  so  trained  that  he  can  see  that  all  the  processes 
in  any  subject  of  study  are  based  upon  a  few  principles  will  grow  to 
understand  that  the  Ruler  of  the  universe  has  an  intelligent  plan  in  the 
management  of  the  world.  Such  enlargement  of  his  view  and  powers 
will  bring  to  him  with  controlling  force  the.  thought  that  much  will  be 
required  of  those  to  whom  much  has  been  given ;  that  wherever  light 
and  virtue  are  found  there  exists  the  responsibility  of  carrying  these 
blessings  to  the  dwellers  in  darkness  and  to  the  victims  of  vice.  The 
arguments  in  favor  of  expansion,  as  statements  of  facts,  may  or  may  not 
be  convincing;  the  cry  of  imperialism,  as  an  excuse  for  spasms,  is  of 
no  special  interest,  but  the  principle  holds,  that  he  who  has  ability  in  large 
measure,  is  responsible  for  the  growth  of  the  best  in  others  who  are  less 
fortunate.  When  one  sees  clearly  the  principles  involved  in  a  given 
course  of  action,  then  he  is  prepared  to  appreciate  the  moral  quality  of  the 
items  incident  to  such  action  and  is  not  in  danger  of  being  blinded  by 
a  mass  of  details. 

No  school  is  worthy  of  the  name  unless  the  child  taught  therein  comes 
to  have  a  sense  of  his  personal,  community  and  national  responsibility. 
This  knowledge  will  show  him  that  every  violation  of  rules  or  laws,  every 
instance  of  malicious  destruction  of  property,  every  manifestation  of 
vandalism,  all  exhibitions  of  impudence  and  insolence,  all  forms  of  dis¬ 
respect  for  persons,  places,  positions,  sacred  things,  help  to  make  possible 
the  development  of  an  anarchist  and  the  evolution  of  an  assassin.  When 
the  school  shall  have  come  into  its  highest  estate,  the  child  will  grow  to 
feel  his  accountability  to  himself  and  to  that  Power  which  has  given  him 
life  that  he  may  hasten  that  day  for  which  the  world  is  toiling,  with  a 
faith  manifest  in  works  as  beautiful  in  spirit  as  they  are  wonderful  in 
results. 

Even  the  child  must  learn  that  the  welfare  of  this  Nation  does  not  rest 
in  the  hands  of  its  rulers,  but  in  the  lives  of  its  common  people.  If  this 
is  to  be  a  safe  and  a  wholesome  country  to  live  in,  then  this  multitude  must 
come  to  an  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  true  greatness  consists  in  sim¬ 
plicity,  gentleness,  faithfulness,  individuality,  in  doing  our  duty  in  the 
place  in  which  we  find  ourselves.  Station,  wealth,  office,  name,  none  of 
these,  nor  all  of  them  are  necessary  to  the  rendering  of  a  worthy  ser¬ 
vice.  The  child  should  be  taught  to  reverence  the  head  of  a  household 
who  is  true  to  all  the  interests  committed  to  his  care,  and  is  faithful  in 
all  work  his  hands  find  to  do,  because  he  is  the  man  who  gives  us  the 
mastery,  not  only  of  the  world’s  markets,  but  of  its  destiny  as  well. 

It  is  quite  as  important  for  one  to  be  anxious  to  do  his  work,  as  it  is  for 
one  to  work  out  his  own  salvation.  The  desire  to  walk  under  one’s  own 
hat;  the  ability  to  earn  the  hat;  the  capacity  to  do  one’s  own  reading, 
thinking,  voting;  the  determination  to  represent  one’s  self  and  count 
one  when  standing  alone,  are  evidences  of  a  working  plan  of  life  the 
world  much  needs  in  these  days. 

The  silent  as  well  as  the  oral  instruction  of  the  teacher  should  help  the 
child  to  something  better  than  a  mastery  of  text-books  if  he  is  to  do  the 
work  of  life  worthily.  His  schoolroom  experiences  should  teach  him 
that  he  is  the  sufferer  as  well  as  the  loser  if  he  makes  it  necessary  for 


5 


any  one  to  fight  for  His  rights,  whether  they  be  social,  financial,  political 
or  religious.  He  can  learn  while  yet  young  that  failure  to  pay  his  pro¬ 
portion  of  the  public  assessment  of  service  or  tax  is  a  crime  against  him¬ 
self  and  one  for  which  he  will  find  it  difficult  to  atone.  He  will  here 
have  opportunities  to  learn  that  he  is  not  only  doing  the  right  thing  but 
promoting  all  his  best  interests  when  he  seeks  to  give  to  others  equal 
or  better  opportunities  than  have  fallen  to  his  own  lot. 

The  wisest  man  since  Plato  has  said:  “There  are  a  thousand  who  can 
talk  for  one  who  can  think,  and  a  thousand  more  who  can  think  for  one 
who  can  feel;  for  to  feel  is  poetry,  philosophy  and  religion  all  in  one.” 
No  school  can  assist  in  fitting  a  child  for  life  unless  it  leads  him  to  see 
that  it  is  as  necessary  for  him  to  feel  a  truth  as  to  know  what  is  true. 
There  can  be  no  question  but  that  feeling  is  the  highest  form  of  intelli¬ 
gence  yet  discovered  by  the  subtlest  psychologist.  Our  great  poets  have 
been,  not  only  the  historians  of  the  future,  but  have  also  lived  most  because 
they  have  loved  most.  The  thrilling  pulse  of  nature  has  startled  them 
with  its  power ;  the  wisdom  embalmed  in  the  daisy  has  taught  them  of 
life,  death  and  the  judgment  to  come:  they  have  read  the  record  written 
in  the  rocks  because  they  have  been  in  touch  as  well  as  in  tune  with 
Nature. 

The  child  has  a  right  to  look  to  the  teacher  for  light  and  guidance. 
It  is  his  privilege  to  stand  between  the  masters  and  the  child  and  with 
an  expression  more  halting,  render  it  possible  for  him  to  make  com¬ 
panions  of  these  great  souls  and  drink  of  the  fountains  which  they,  like 
Longfellow’s  Pegasus,  have  left  for  the  refreshment  of  all  who  will  drink. 

It  was  not  the  learning  of  Mark  Hopkins,  the  wisdom  of  Dr.  Arnold, 
nor  the  vision  of  Horace  Mann,  that  made  each  a  power  while  living  and 
a  blessing  in  these  latter  days,  but  it  was  the  fact  that  they  possessed  in 
fullest  measure  that  fine  appreciation  of  life  in  all  its  forms  which  found 
its  highest  manifestation  in  old  Domsie.  This  love  of  art  and  of  ,the 
child  made  that  old  stone  schoolhouse  in  the  Glen  among  the  pines  more 
than  a  university  and  kept  Domsie  on  the  watch  for  the  boy  o’parts  and 
gave  him  a  sagacity  which  made  it  easy  to  provide  ways  and  means  to 
send  the  youth,  when  found,  to  Edinboro. 

The  child  is  entitled  to  such  an  introduction  to  the  masters  as  will 
enable  him  to  understand  the  stations  into  which  they  were  born,  the 
conditions  under  which  they  worked,  the  sufferings  they  endured  and 
the  service  they  rendered.  To  him  the  lives  of  Wagner,  Millet,  Michael 
Angelo  and  Lincoln  must  be  something  more  than  dates  and  names  and 
places.  He  must  appreciate  the  humble  homes  into  which  three  of  them 
were  born,  and  the  noble  parentage  of  the  fourth,  and  he  must  be  able 
to  discern,  as  his  acquaintance  with  them  becomes  more  intimate,  that 
each  loved  some  form  of  nature  with  a  great  passion ;  that  each  had  a 
purpose  to  which  he  was  true  through  appalling  sufferings ;  that  each 
sweat  great  drops  of  blood  that  other  lives  might  be  better  lived,  and 
that  each  opened  the  windows  of  the  souls  of  millions  and  let  in  the  light 
of  truth  and  beauty.  This  acquaintanceship  should  be  promoted  until 
the  child  is  able  to  pass  his  hand  within  the  arm  of  one  of  the  saviors 
of  the  race  and  go  with  him  down  the  long  path  which  leads  to  the 


6 


haven  of  all  good.  While  on  one  of  these  pilgrimages  his  cheeks  will  be 
aglow,  and  his  eyes  will  shine  with  the  light  that  glorifies  the  face  of  the 
devout  peasant  when  he  gazes  enraptured  on  the  masterpieces  of  Raphael. 

He  must  learn  while  yet  young,  that  there  are  two  atmospheres  in  this 
world ;  the  one  is  physical  and  fills  our  lungs ;  the  other  is  spiritual  and 
gives  new  and  better  life  to  our  souls.  The  first  serves  its  purpose  in  the 
act  which  makes  use  of  it ;  the  second  remains  with  us  through  all  time. 
It  comes  to  us  through  seers  and  prophets,  making  the  divine  manifest 
in  human  life. 

He  must  be  so  taught  and  must  so  train  himself  that  he  can  walk  in 
Elysian  fields,  through  jasper  gates,  along  golden  streets;  kneel  at  the 
great  white  throne,  and  see  sights  never  revealed  to  mortal  eyes,  because 
he  has  that  vision  which  the  imagination,  warmed  by  sympathy,  can 
bring  to  him  of  the  Paradise  seen  by  John  Milton  and  the  Pilgrim  created 
by  John  Bunyan. 

The  right  reading  of  the  thirty-eighth  chapter  of  Job,  the  nineteenth, 
twenty-third  and  ninetieth  Psalms,  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Ecclesiastes, 
the  fifty-third  chapter  of  Isaiah,  the  fifth  chapter  of  Daniel,  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount,  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  the  thir¬ 
teenth  chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  and  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Rev¬ 
elations,  will  help  him  to  see  something  of  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God 
as  well  as  His  love  for  His  children,  and  will  permit  him  to  trace  in  his 
ancestors  the  pathways  he  has  traveled  and  to  catch  glimpses  of  that 
undiscovered  country  toward  which  he  is  journeying. 

The  child  has  a  right  to  know  quite  as  much  of  the  Christ  who  was 
born  in  a  stable,  cradled  in  a  manger,  who  lived  in  a  peasant’s  cottage, 
worked  at  a  carpenter’s  bench,  who  was  so  poor  that  he  had  not  where 
to  lay  his  head,  and  yet  was  heard  gladly  by  the  common  people  because 
he  brought  light  and  life  into  the  world,  as  he  is  required  to  learn  of  the 
unsavory  details  of  the  gods  of  so-called  heathen  nations. 

It  would  be  well  from  the  pedagogical  standpoint  if  our  teachers  sat 
at  the  feet  of  the  Great  Teacher  of  Nazareth  and  learned  some  of  the 
simple,  homely  lessons  of  daily  life.  Such  instruction  would  make  it 
impossible  for  them  to  devote  so  much  time  to  the  evils  of  wrong  doing, 
and  would  induce  them  to  win  the  child  to  a  better  life  by  showing  him 
the  blessings  which  come  from  righteous  living.  It  would  make  them 
more  hospitable  toward  truth  wherever  found,  whether  it  be  in  the  heart 
of  a  child  or  the  teachings  of  the  sage.  It  would  give  that  kind  of 
courage  which  would  cast  out  all  fear,  except  that  which  comes  from 
the  dread  of  being  a  coward.  They  would  learn  that  it  is  not  a  difficult 
matter  and  not  often  an  important  item  for  one  to  have  opinions,  but  it 
is  vital  that  he  be  controlled  by  convictions,  otherwise  he  will  be  carried 
into  devious  and  dangerous  paths  by  the  foolish  teachings  of  the  unwise. 
They  would  discover  how  to  become  rich  without  wealth,  and  happy 
without  luxury.  Under  these  influences  the  whisperings  of  the  message 
of  the  spirit  will  be  heard  while  the  clamor  of  its  physical  embodiment 
will  be  but  little  heeded.  They  will  grow  so  sensitive  for  others  that 
they  will  have  no  time  to  be  sensitive  for  themselves.  They  will  come 
to  know  that  life  is  alive  as  long  as  it  is  used  to  give  life  to  others.  They 


/ 


will  see  that  the  world  needs  to-day,  more  than  ever  before,  not  the  arro¬ 
gance  of  knowledge,  but  the  graciousness  of  culture.  That  above  all, 
and  giving  the  motive  to  all,  will  be  the  faith  that  the  love  which 
cleanses  the  lover  will  purify  the  world. 

The  school  will  help  the  child  as  it  makes  it  possible  for  him  to  grow, 
to  master  himself  and  his  tasks,  to  feel  the  pulse  of  nature,  to  live  in  close 
communion  with  the  wise  of  heart,  to  rejoice  in  the  companionship  of 
those  who  have  pointed  the  way,  and  gone  on  before,  to  receive  truth 
and  embalm  it  in  daily  living,  and  to  be  glad  to  be  alone  with  God  in  his 
own  heart. 

A  nation  born  in  righteousness  must  live  righteously.  The  menace 
of  to-day  is  not  ignorance,  but  the  lack  of  a  controlling  moral  sentiment. 
We  cannot  endure  as  a  people  if  we  place  a  higher  estimate  on  learning 
than  we  accord  to  virtue.  The  time  has  come  when  we  would  better 
teach  less  cube  root  and  devote  more  attention  to  the  fundamental  prin¬ 
ciples  of  right  living.  That  training  of  the  will  which  keeps  us  in  the 
right  path  is  more  to  be  desired  than  the  wisdom  found  in  books.  That 
school  serves  the  child  best  which  helps  him  to  do  instinctively  the  right 
thing,  to  feel  approval  for  the  act  done,  and  at  the  same  time,  to  have 
an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  issues  involved. 

The  school  that  does  this  work  gives  to  all  organizations  that  are  seek¬ 
ing  to  make  good  things  better  the  help  they  have  a  right  to  demand. 


< 


8 


SOME  SUGGESTIONS  ON  THE  STUDY  OF  UNITED 
STATES  HISTORY. 


It  is  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception  that  we  attempt  to  learn  of  our 
Nation’s  history  by  trying  to  master  the  dates  and  facts  that  make  up  the 
record  of  this  continent  since  1492.  Such  efforts  always  have  been  and 
will  continue  to  be,  in  a  measure,  futile.  Our  history  goes  back  to  the 
beginning  of  time.  No  one  can  understand  American  life  who  is  not 
familiar  with  the  record  made  by  our  ancestors  on  English  shores.  No 
one  can  study  English  history  to  advantage  unless  he  is  familiar  with  the 
story  of  the  Northmen,  the  Normans,  the  Angles,  Saxons,  Jutes  and 
Frisians.  The  two  great  classic  nations  have  also  had  much  to  do  with 
moulding  our  thought  and  modifying  our  lives.  It  is  easy  to  see'  that 
our  history  begins  with  a  day  too  early  to  be  fixed  with  exactness. 

Some  six  or  sixty  or  six  hundred  thousand  years  ago,  there  lived  in 
central  western  Asia,  or  somewhere  else,  a  small  community,  springing 
from  a  common  ancestor,  and  having  kindred  tastes,  characteristics,  apti¬ 
tudes  and  occupations.  As  years  went  on,  differences  arose,  varying 
capacities  were  evolved,  desires  for  new  fields  to  conquer  were  born,  and 
ambitions  to  found  other  and  separate  communities  were  developed. 
Those  having  interests  in  common  gathered  themselves  together  into' 
clans,  septs,  bands  or  tribes,  and  leaving  their  early  homes,  went  their 
several  ways,  and  in  process  of  time  grew  to  be  the  nations  of  the  earth. 

One  section  found  its  way  south  and  east  and  became  the  ancestors 
of  the  unnumbered  millions  of  India.  They  were  in  those  early  days, 
and  have  remained  through  all  the  years,  meditative,  introspective,  meta¬ 
physical.  They  have  dreamed  dreams  and  seen  visions;  they  have  been 
the  authors  of  a  great  literature  and  the  fathers  of  subtle  philosophy. 
The  Western  mind  has  spun  no  thread  so  fine  that  these  keen-eyed  Ori¬ 
entals  have  not  found  it  easy  to  separate  it  into  two  sections,  and  with 
a  nicety  which  does  not  permit  us  to  discover  which  is  the  larger  part. 
These  dwellers  in  far  eastern  lands  are  full  brothers  of  ours  and  have 
exerted  an  influence  on  our  lives  in  the  past,  and  are  to  be  more  influ¬ 
ential  in  our  living  in  the  future,  and  hence  the  necessity  for  our  know¬ 
ing  somewhat  concerning  them. 

The  Celts  seem  to  have  been  the  second  division  to  make  their  way 
out  into  the  unknown  world,  and  we  find  them  in  the  Basques  of  Spain, 
the  native  Gauls  of  France,  the  Welsh  in  Wales,  the  Manx  in  the  Isle  of 
Man,  the  Irishry  of  Ireland,  and  the  native  Piets  and  Scots.  They  were 
largely  endowed  with  fancy  and  imagination.  They  furnished  the  yeast  for 
the  human  race.  They  were  warmed  by  the  genial  rays  of  joy  and  with¬ 
ered  by  the  blasts  of  sorrow.  They  responded  to  the  artistic  and  poetic — 
to  beauty  wherever  found.  They  had  that  warmth  and  unthinking 
impulsiveness  which  made  them  the  football  of  the  world  for  centuries. 

The  Greeks  found  their  way  into  the  islands  of  the  Aegean  and  the 
valleys  of  the  most  beautiful  peninsula  of  all  the  earth.  They  were  the 


9 


lovers  and  embodiers  of  beauty.  They  saw  it  in  the  hills  about  them,  the 
valleys  at  their  feet,  the  winding  stream,  the  changing  cloud,  and  gave 
expression  to  it  in  grove  and  temple,  in  oration  and  poem,  in  painting 
and  statue.  Beauty  was  their  god,  and  at  its  shrine  they  worshipped  and 
in  this  devotion  we  are  blessed. 

The  Romans  found  a  home  in  another  and  more  western  peninsula. 
They  were  born  to  rule  and  brought  the  then  known  world  under 
their  domination.  They  devised  and  administered  a  central  government. 
Much  of  our  civil  law  and  many  of  our  civil  forms  come  from  this  early 
people.  They  were  possessed  of  dignity,  that  peculiar  self-respect  which 
made  the  humblest  Roman  a  king  and  fit  to  rule  the  peers  of  the  realm. 

The  Teutons  found  their  way  into  northwestern  Europe.  They  lived 
among  fogs  and  fens,  bogs  and  morasses.  They  were  coarse,  brutal 
savages.  They  were  passionate  lovers  and  fiercest  haters.  They  were 
gluttons  in  eating  and  sots  in  drinking.  They  loved  home,  women, 
kindred,  liberty,  and  took  pride  in  each  man  representing  himself,  defend¬ 
ing  his  own  rights  and  performing  his  own  duties.  They  had  that  inher¬ 
ent  strength,  sturdiness,  endurance,  absorbing  faculties  which  made  it 
possible  for  them  to  take  in  all  of  good  other  nations  evolved,  make  it 
their  own  and  add  to  it  the  saving  qualities  which  they  themselves  pos¬ 
sessed,  i.  e.,  the  ability  to  multiply  their  virtues  and  rid  themselves  of 
their  vices. 

There  are  two  divisions  of  the  race  of  which  mention  has  not  been 
made.  One  filled  a  large  place  in  the  past  and  the  other  is  to  fill  a  world¬ 
wide  place  in  the  future.  The  Slav  had  not  a  little  of  the  metaphysical 
twist  of  the  East  Indian,  a  large  endowment  of  the  love  of  the  beautiful 
inherent  in  the  Greek,  the  masterful  qualities  possessed  by  the  Roman, 
the  staying  powers  given  in  such  large  measure  to  the  Teuton  and  the 
exalted  and  exulting  forces  so  regnant  in  the  old  Celt.  A  strain  of  Tar¬ 
tar  blood  poisoned  the  current  of  his  life  for  a  long  time  and  gave  to  his 
national  existence  a  barbaric  trend  and  an  oriental  flavor.  The  years 
have  come  and  gone,  the  winnowing  process  has  been  carried  on,  the 
Clock  of  Time  is  about  to  strike.  The  Slav  of  to-day,  as  manifest  in  the 
Russian  of  the  present,  is  to  dispute  the  conquest  of  the  world  with  his 
western  brothers,  the  assertive  Englishman  and  the  still  more  presumptu¬ 
ous  American. 

The  Hebrew,  living  on  the  hills  and  in  the  orchards  of  Judea,  had  for 
his  mission  the  development  of  a  moral  code.  This  work  he  performed 
with  that  peculiar  wisdom  which  makes  evident  the  special  direction 
of  an  over-ruling  hand. 

One  of  the  strange  lessons  to  be  drawn  from  all  these  facts,  is  that  four 
of  these  divisions  seem  to  have  had  a  special  mission  to  perform  and  a 
particular  problem  to  solve.  The  Hebrews  gave  us  a  formal  statement 
of  our  relation  to  the  God  we  worship ;  the  Greeks  gave  us  our  capacity 
to  love  the  beautiful ;  the  Romans  gave  us  the  power  to  rule ;  the  Celts 
have  sent  through  our  veins,  in  hot  currents,  those  vivid  imaginings  so 
necessary  to  sane  living,  whether  the  life  be  that  of  the  statesman,  the 
toiler  upon  the  sea,  the  laborer  upon  the  land,  the  priest  in  his  cloister, 
or  the  poet  in  his  study.  It  is  easy  to  note  that  these  peoples  lived 
isolated  lives,  and  in  this  isolation  they  toiled  and  thus  were  able  to  serve. 
To  each,  all  others  were  heathen  and  foes  to  be  feared,  or  enemies  to 


io 


be  slain.  It  is  not  possible  for  a  teacher  to  give  instruction  in  American 
history  unless  she  knows  much  of  the  swing  and  trend,  relation  and 
purpose  of  all  these  peoples. 

Another  method  might  be  used  in  bringing  the  facts  of  the  past  before 
the  mind  of  the  child  in  striking  form.  Two  thousand  years  ago  Rome 
ruled  the  world  and  peace  prevailed  to  its  utmost  borders,  and  Christ 
was  born  among  the  hills  of  Judea.  He  came  to  bring  peace  and  good¬ 
will  to  all  mankind.  Five  hundred  years  come  and  go,  and  Rome  with¬ 
draws  from  northwestern  Europe  and  retires  within  narrow  limits.  The 
tribes  of  Germany  over-run  England  and  drive  into  the  hills  the  native 
Britons.  The  Vandals  conquer  southern  Europe  and  carry  their  devas¬ 
tations  to  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  and  the  Empire  transfers  its 
throne  to  the  Bosphorus.  Another  five  hundred  years  pass  away,  and  the 
Normans  have  conquered  England  ;  America  has  been  discovered ;  the 
Albigenses’  Reformation  has  spread  its  flickering  and  short-lived  light 
over  central  western  Europe.  Another  five  hundred  years  have  been 
rolled  up  in  the  scroll,  and  with  it  have  come  the  invention  of  printing 
and  of  gunpowder,  the  rediscovery  of  America,  the  Lutheran  reformation, 
the  revival  of  learning,  the  crumbling  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  and  the  dis¬ 
persion  of  Greek  learning  and  literature  throughout  western  Europe. 

It  is  easy  to  see  that  events  swing  in  great  cycles  in  the  world’s  supreme 
movements.  There  seems  to  be  an  ebb  and  flow  in  the  affairs  of  men 
which  leave  great  determining  facts  standing  out  like  the  high  mountain 
peaks  in  our  loftiest  ranges.  The  skillful  teacher  can  give  the  child 
such  bird’s-eye  views  of  this  great  current  of  human  life  that  its  essential 
facts  may  stand  revealed  to  him  in  the  clear,  white  light  of  truth. 

We  have  seen  that  there  was  a  fountain,  far  away  in  eastern  lands 
from  which  many  streams  have  flowed  in  diverse  and  diverging  directions. 

It  is  no  figure  of  speech  to  say  that  all  these  great  rivers  have  converged 
and  found  their  last  reservoir  this  side  of  the  Atlantic.  To  us  have  come 
all  nations  and  all  peoples,  each  laden  with  his  burden,  each  bringing 
his  contribution.  The  amalgamation  of  all  these  elements  will,  in  the 
end,  give  us  the  ideal  citizen  of  the  world.  We  are  to  have,  in  the  days 
that  are  to  come,  that  fine  reverence  and  devotion  for  which  the  Jew 
strove  but  never  attained.  We  are  to  have  the  sensuous  enjoyment  of 
beauty  without  any  of  the  sensualism  which  characterized  the  early  Greek. 

We  are  to  be  strong  enough,  one  of  these  days,  to  rule  more  wisely  than 

the  Roman  ever  ruled,  because  we  shall  govern  without  tyranny.  We  are  to 

have  the  vision  which  enabled  the  ancient  Celt  to  see  radiant  vistas.  We 

shall  have  all  these  things  because  the  underlying  and  essential  part  of 

our  inheritance  comes  from  that  portion  of  the  race  that  is  possessed  of  ' 

the  power  which  makes  it  easy  for  them  to  absorb  the  good  and  reject 

the  evil  which  life  offers. 

Nothing  could  be  more  unwise  than  for  the  common  school  teacher 
to  spend  her  time  trying  to  gain  information  concerning  those  peoples  by 
studying  the  heavy  tomes  of  which  Rawlinson’s  is,  perhaps,  the  best 
example.  This  information  can  be  most  easily  gathered  from  anecdote, 
incident,  sketch,  story,  tradition,  legend.  Butterworth,  Miss  Yonge, 

Bolton,  Knox  will  furnish  world  portraits  and  pictures,  while  Mahaffy 
and  the  Story  of  the  Nation  Series  will  give  her  a  truer  historical  per¬ 
spective  and  a  better  basis  for  future  study.  The  child  should  be  made 


to  see  the  homes  these  people  builded,  the  schools  they  maintained,  the 
temples  in  which  they  worshipped,  the  industries  with  which  they  occu¬ 
pied  themselves ;  in  a  word,  to  come  in  touch  with  the  daily  life  of  the 
common  people,  know  the  leaders  and  breathe  the  atmosphere  created  by 
the  good  and  great.  He  must  walk  adown  the  long  path  with  an  Indian 
mystic  and  let  him  tell  the  story  of  his  people ;  go  with  an  old  Greek 
out  into  the  groves  and  stand  beneath  its  arching  trees,  or  sit  in  the 
porches  of  one  of  those  noble  temples  and  listen  to  the  gracious  wisdom 
of  a  sage ;  live  again  in  the  City  that  sat  on  seven  hills  and  discover  how 
it  ruled  the  world ;  stand  by  some  Druidical  circle,  and  watch  the  weird 
rites  with  which  the  old  Celt  propitiated  his  gods ;  find  a  home  beneath 
the  lowering  skies  of  that  old  Germany  which  has  given  us  the  brain  that 
holds  in  charge  so  large  a  share  of  the  world’s  activities.  The  old  world 
in  all  its  interests,  all  its  hopes  and  fears,  all  its  aspirations  and  short¬ 
comings,  must  live  again  in  the  child’s  fertile  imagination,  and  all  classes, 
conditions,  sects,  races,  must  be  known  by  him  through  that  medium 
which  teaches  history  better  than  the  formal  record  has  ever  given  it  to  us. 

If  we  come  more  definitely  within  the  limits  of  our  own  history  it  is 
well  for  us  to  take  note  of  the  two  great  classes  which  made  early  set¬ 
tlements  within  our  borders.  The  Pilgrim  and  the  Puritan  are  our  ances¬ 
tors  ;  the  Cavalier  found  a  home  beneath  warmer  skies.  The  Puritan 
was  cold,  brusque,  harsh,  enjoyed  suffering  for  the  good  he  felt  it  wrought 
within  him.  He  was  severe  in  his  judgment  of  himself  and  cruel  in  his 
relations  to  others,  but  he  was  strong  and  clean  and  righteous,  faithful 
and  hardy  and  earnest ;  did  his  own  reading  and  his  own  thinking,  and 
braced  himself  to  fight  oppression  wherever  manifested.  The  Cavalier 
was  refined  without  being  scholarly;  he  had  polish,  grace  and  an  easy 
observance  of  conventional  forms.  He  gloried  in  broad  acres,  baronial 
homes,  and  many  of  the  trappings  of  royalty.  He  was  eager,  ardent, 
impulsive,  a  thorough-going  hater,  and  a  friend  loyal  to  his  last  dollar 
and  his  last  drop  of  blood.  Separated  by  an  imperceptible  line,  these 
two  classes  waxed  strong,  multiplied  in  numbers,  advanced  in  civiliza¬ 
tion  and  contended  for  supremacy.  The  Cavalier  yielded  to  the  yeoman. 
In  yielding,  he  received  much  of  blessing  and  gave  richly  of  the  quality 
most  needed  in  Northern  life — that  fine  observance  of  the  amenities  of 
modern  society,  so  necessary  to  civil  and  civilized  living.  If  these  out¬ 
lines  are  clearly  set  before  the  child,  he  can  see  the  Southern  home  and 
the  Northern  fireside;  the  broad  stretching  fields  of  Virginia  and  the 
smaller  homestead  of  New  England;  the  self-contained  power  of  the 
one  and  the  over-flowing  spirits  of  the  other,  and  this  knowledge  will 
help  him  to  truer  ideas  of  the  sources  from  which  he  came,  the  inheri¬ 
tance  which  is  his  and  the  responsibilities  placed  upon  him. 

The  child  should  also  have  opportunities  to  study  persons,  places  and 
events.  He  should  study  the  individual  in  such  a  way  that  he  will  know 
of  his  ancestry,  home,  childhood,  young  manhood,  mature  years,  the 
training  he  received,  the  tasks  to  which  he  gave  himself,  the  work  he 
did,  the  results  coming  from  it.  This  study  should  make  Samuel  Adams 
something  more  than  a  name  to  him.  This  rare  old  Puritan,  living  in  a 
quiet  home,  on  a  secluded  street,  cared  for  by  his  wife,  made  possible 
the  Revolution  and  its  successful  issue.  He  was  the  one  man  who  saw 
the  conflict  long  before  it  came,  hastened  its  coming,  effected  the  con- 


solidation  of  the  Colonies,  held  John  Hancock  in  all  his  limpness  to  his 
task  and  place,  and  fought  the  intellectual  battles  of  this  great  war. 
Samuel  Adams  was  the  supreme  mind  of  his  day ; — large  enough  to  be 
willing  to  keep  out  of  sight,  strong  enough  to  use  the  means  which  came 
to  his  hand,  and  true  enough  to  fight  it  out  on  the  line  chosen  if  it  took 
a  hundred  summers. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  is  an  event  which  should  be  treated  with  a 
fullness  not  possible  in  a  half  dozen  lines  of  an  ordinary  text-book.  It 
was  the  crucial  point  in  our  history ;  toward  it  all  details  led ;  from  it 
all  subsequent  history  radiates.  It  was  the  beginning  of  the  end  of  a 
struggle  centuries  old,  and  it  also  made  possible  our  present  commanding 
position.  It  is  the  pivot  around  which  revolve  a  hundred  lesser  questions 
in  the  settlement  of  which  came  the  final  decision  declared  by  Lincoln 
to  be  inevitable. 

Valley  Forge  is  a  place  that  should  be  sacred  to  every  lover  of  liberty. 
Here  men  stood  and  suffered,  and  served  as  they  waited.  Here  men’s 
souls  were  tried,  and  here  it  was  determined  that  if  eternity  should  be 
needed  to  settle’ the  question  of  the  freedom  of  the  Colonies,  eternity  should 
be  dedicated  to  that  holy  purpose. 

A  comprehensive  idea  of  our  Civil  War  may  be  given  through  the  use 
of  a  simple  illustration.  Place  the  edge  of  the  hand  upon  the  map  with 
the  thumb  upward  and  the  wrist  resting  just  below  the  city  of  Wash¬ 
ington,  extend  the  hand  across  Virginia  and  West  Virginia  and  over 
into  Kentucky,  and  allow  the  fingers  to  follow  down  the  Mississippi 
river,  and  as  they  close  in,  come  across  Georgia,  Alabama,  and  the  Caro- 
linas,  and  when  the  ends  of  the  fingers  have  come  back  to  the  wrist,  you 
have  the  circumference  of  the  rebellion  and  you  have  the  life  squeezed 
out  of  the  conspiracy.  The  strong  strain  was,  at  the  start,  and  remained 
to  the  end  of  the  war,  at  the  wrist,  and  it  is  here  the  greatest  power 
was  resident.  Hard  fighting  came  along  through  the  back  of  the  hand ; 
the  gathering  into  the  crushing  folds  of  the  fingers  indicates  the  battles 
fought  on  the  Gulf.  It  is  an  illustration  that  seems  to  be  helpful  in  mak¬ 
ing  clear  to  the  child  the  seat  of  the  conflict,  the  extent  of  the  disaffection, 
and  the  efforts  made  to  reduce  the  rebelling  states  to  subjection. 

It  is  evident  that  these  suggestions  have  covered  a  wide  area,  set  a 
swift  pace,  outlined  work  for  whose  mastery  years  would  be  insufficient. 
Still  it  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  know  the  point  at 
which  we  started,  the  highways  we  have  traveled,  the  places  we  have 
reached,  the  direction  in  which  we  are  facing,  the  goal  which  is  des¬ 
tined  to  be  ours  if  we  are  true  to  ourselves  and  loyal  to  the  best  within  us. 

There  is  no  question  but  that  our  language  and  literature,  industries 
and  civilization,  homes  and  churches,  schools  and  philanthropies,  are  to 
go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth  and  the  islands  of  the  sea.  Wherever  dark¬ 
ness  is  found,  there  the  light  set  beneath  these  western  skies  must  shed 
its  beams,  or  the  vice  and  the  degradation  which  lurks  in  these  far  away 
places  will  become  the  agents  of  our  undoing.  Great  blessings  are  ours; 
these  can  only  remain  our  choicest  possession  by  giving  them  to  those 
who  stand  in  need  of  the  best  the  ages  have  given  us. 


13 


ARITHMETIC  IN  THE  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

i  _ _ 


All  children  have  limitations.  Some  have  meagre  possibilities.  Any 
attempt  to  compel  a  child  to  do  work  he  cannot  comprehend  results  in 
arrested  development.  He  not  only  remains  a  stranger  to  the  subject 
studied,  but  he  loses  the  ability  to  understand  and  use  what  he  could 
otherwise  have  made  helpfully  his  own.  A  few  children  are  debarred  by 
nature  from  receiving  scholastic  training  beyond  a  certain  point.  It  is 
the  duty  of  the  school  to  aid  such  in  pursuing  their  studies  as  far  as 
possible.  The  generations  yet  to  come  must  take  the  succeeding  steps  in 
the  advancement  of  this  portion  of  the  race.  Other  children  are  unable, 
because  of  immaturity,  to  study  with  profit  certain  branches  during  their 
early  years.  All  efforts  tending  to  force  these  studies  upon  them  result 
in  benumbing  not  only  the  powers  used,  but  in  paralyzing  all  the  faculties 
of  the  mind.  One  child  in  many  thousands  seems  to  be  able  to  assimilate 
all  kinds  of  intellectual  food  at  every  period  of  his  development.  He  is 
the  exception  and  is  but  little  helped  or  harmed  by  the  school.  The 
majority  of  children  must  be  taught  intelligently  if  our  schools  are  to 
provide  us  with  useful  citizens.  They  must  have  a  chance  to  learn  the 
things  they  can  learn  at  the  time  they  can  master  them  best  and  above  all, 
they  must  acquire  those  things  which,  in  the  learning,  will  give  them  the 
most  power  and  will  provide  them  with  a  store  of  usable  information  and 
thus  make  it  possible  for  them  to  live  wisely,  safely  and  helpfully. 

The  work  of  teaching  can  never  be  well  done  until  the  teacher  under¬ 
stands  the  child,  has  mastered  the  subjects  studied,  knows  modern 
methods  so  thoroughly  that  she  uses  them  unconsciously,  is  capable  of 
inventing  her  own  devices,  and  has  a  well  defined  idea  of  the  results  she 
wishes  to  accomplish.  That  some  of  these  conditions  do  not  exist,  and 
that  none  of  them  are  as  much  in  evidence  as  thoughtful  students  of  the 
educational  problem  desire,  go  without  saying.  That  we  are  steadily,  if 
not  rapidly,  making  improvements  along  these  lines  is  also  manifest. 

The  fatal  weakness  at  the  present  time  is  our  ignorance  of  the  child. 
The  so-called  Child  Study  so  extensively  advertised  during  the  past  few 
years  has  furnished  not  a  little  amusement  to  the  profession  and  much 
entertainment  for  the  general  public.  It  has  thus  far  done  but  little  to 
make  the  work  of  the  teacher  more  effective.  It  has  not,  as  yet,  furnished 
sufficient  justification  for  the  time  devoted  to  these  studies  and  their 
exploitation. 

No  elaborate  experiments  nor  subtle  psychological  investigations  are 
needed  to  convince  the  intelligent  teacher  of  the  justness  of  the  following 
statements.  The  child’s  mental  powers  should  be  trained  during  the 


period  of  their  greatest  natural  activity.  Any  attempt  to  compel  him  to 
study  a  large  number  of  subjects  at  a  given  time,  or  to  swamp  him  in 
details,  or  to  insist  that  he  shall  understand  principles  when  he  can  best 
master  facts,  or  to  ask  him  to  do  many  of  the  things  now  required  in  our 
common  schools,  will  be  attended  with  results  lamented  by  so  many 
teachers.  The  stupifying  of  the  child  so  taught  will  surely  follow. 

It  is  apparent  to  any  observer  that  in  his  early  years  the  child  is  eager 
in  his  questionings  and  alert  in  his  observations.  The  work  of  the 
schools  should  help  him  to  put  his  questions  in  intelligent  form  and  obtain 
from  his  observations  a  reasonably  definite  knowledge  of  the  objects 
within  the  range  of  his  vision.  During  this  period,  nature,  music,  picto¬ 
rial  art,  reading,  penmanship,  spelling  and  a  limited  amount  of  number 
work,  illustrated  by  familiar  objects,  may  be  studied  with  pleasure  and 
profit.  The  age  when  these  studies  may  be  pursued  to  the  best  advantage 
varies  with  different  pupils,  but  speaking  generally  it  includes  those  of 
the  primary  grades. 

During  the  next  period  the  child  collects  and  records.  At  this  time  the 
head  and  pockets  are  filled  with  all  kinds  of  material.  He  is  a  repQsito.ry 
and  a  magazine  and,  in  a  limited  sense,  a  cyclopedia.  Facts  have  great 
attraction  for  him.  He  memorizes  easily.  He  is  willing  to  drudge  in 
making  his  collections  and  rejoices  as  he  sees  his  accumulations  multiply. 
He  should  be  so  trained  in  all  the  combinations  he  will  ever  have  occasion 
to  use,  that  as  soon  as  the  items  are  named,  the  result  will  be  present  in 
his  mind.  Whenever  he  sees  the  expression  eight  plus  seven,  plus  five, 
he  will  think  the  number  twenty  as  readily  as  he  thinks  of  the  word  cat 
when  he  sees  the  letters  cat.  He  should  be  required  to  memorize 
definitions,  rules,  literary  gems,  selections  and  certain  general  facts  in  the 
several  subjects  studied.  The  arithmetical  part  of  this  work  should  be 
made  intelligible  by  the  use  of  illustrations  taken  from  his  daily  experi¬ 
ences.  The  work  outlined  in  this  paragraph  can  be  done  best  during  the 
intermediate  grades. 

Having  been  taught  to  question  intelligently,  observe  with  discrimina¬ 
tion,  retain  with  definiteness  and  accuracy,  he  is  prepared  for  the  next 
step  in  his  progress. 

In  the  last  three  years  of  the  common  school  course  he  is  fitted  to  con¬ 
trast,  compare,  infer,  in  a  word,  to  reason.  He  can  now  address  himself 
to  the  subject  matter  and  science  of  arithmetic.  He  should  be  required 
to  apply  facts  to  the  illustration  of  principles.  He  has  reached  a  point 
in  his  development  where  he  can  see  the  truths  underlying  the  rule  given, 
the  definition  recited  and  the  problem  solved.  He  will  have  less  concern 
about  getting  the  “right  answer”  and  more  interest  in  mastering  the 
thought  expressed.  He  will  be  able  to  comprehend  and  apply  those 
fundamental  principles  in  arithmetic  so  little  understood  even  by  some 
teachers. 

The  following  illustrations  are  so  familiar  as  not  to  need  elaboration 
and  are  therefore  stated  in  their  simplest  terms.  Addition  is  counting  on 
by  ones  and  multiplication  is  counting  on  by  twos,  threes,  etc. ;  subtrac¬ 
tion  is  taking  from  by  ones  and  division  is  taking  from  by  twos,  threes, 


i5 


etc. ;  hence  addition  and  multiplication  are  counting  on  and  subtraction 
and  division  are  counting  from.  Stated  in  its  simplest  form,  these  four 
fundamental  rules  include  the  entire  process  of  counting.  As  the  pupil 
goes  forward  in  his  work,  he  will  discover  that  the  following  problem 
involves  the  most  important  principles  dealt  with  in  this  branch  of  study. 
If  a  man  buy  four  cows  for  $100.00,  what  will  five  cows  cost?  When  he 
shall  have  made  his  own  all  the  facts  and  principles  contained  in  the 
above  propositions,  he  will  have  a  mastery  of  more  of  the  science  of  arith¬ 
metic  than  is  possessed  by  the  average  graduate  of  our  common  schools. 

One  of  these  days  we  shall  be  wise  enough  to  limit  the  work  in  arith¬ 
metic  to  the  four  fundamental  rules,  common  fractions,  decimals,  the 
^  simple  applications  of  denominate  numbers  and  percentage.  This  work 
will  be  illustrated  and  rendered  helpful  in  mental  training  by  using  mate¬ 
rial  which  the  child  collects,  and  using  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  valu¬ 
able  his  every  day  experiences  with  his  schoolmates,  his  home  and  other 
associates.  We  shall  be  content  to  leave  involution,  evolution,  alligation, 
permutations,  foreign  exchange,  annual  interest  and  the  finding  of  the 
solid  contents  of  the  frustum  of  a  pyramid  for  later  years,  and  sometimes 
we  shall  be  wise  enough  to  leave  them  for  years  that  will  never  arrive. 

It  is  questioned  if  many  people  appreciate  the  amount  of  time  devoted 
to,  or  wasted  upon  arithmetic.  The  child  commences  this  branch  when 
he  enters  school  and,  in  most  cases,  devotes  at  least  one  whole  period 
each  day  for  five  days  in  the  week  during  all  the  years  he  remains  in  the 
primary,  intermediate  and  grammar  grades.  This  simple  statement 
brings  home  with  tremendous  force  the  waste  made  by  the  child  in  the 
time  given  to  this  subject.  It  also  reveals  the  extent  of  our  stumbling  in 
the  twilight  of  things. 

Any  one  familiar  with  the  work  and  with  the  young  child’s  inability  to 
master  it,  knows  that  if  he  commence  it  at  a  later  date,  when  his  mental 
training  fits  him  for  the  task,  three  years  make  possible  a  comprehension 
of  the  subject  that  nine  years  of  drudgery  under  present  methods  fail  to 
give.  Stated  in  another  form,  the  child  who  devotes  his  eighth  and  ninth 
years  to  a  mastery  of  number  in  simple  combinations,  his  tenth  and 
eleventh  years  to  learning  something  about  definitions  and  rules  and  the 
simple  processes  involved,  and  his  twelfth  and  thirteenth  years  to  the 
study  of  arithmetic,  will  make  a  great  saving  in  time  and  acquire  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  the  subject  possessed  by  few  adults. 

The  natural  inferences  to  be  gathered  from  the  foregoing  discussion 
are  included  in  the  following  statement.  We  would  do  better  work  if  we 
commenced  the  study  later,  devoted  less  time  to  it,  mastered  the  funda- 
*  mental  facts,  understood  the  essential  principles,  applied  them  to  the 

ordinary  experiences  of  life,  and  omitted  a  large  portion  of  the  text  which 
now  furnishes  puzzles  and  the  study  of  which  produces  stupefaction.  If 
we  could  fully  realize  the  injury  inflicted  upon  the  child  by  the  amount 
of  work  we  require  of  him,  the  unnaturalness  of  his  attempt  to  under¬ 
stand  intricate  and  abstruse  reasoning  processes  in  his  early  years,  and 
the  comparatively  rare  use  ever  made  of  the  knowledge  acquired,  then  we 
would  give  to  this  branch  the  time  it  merits  and  get  out  of  it  the  mental 
training  it  is  capable  of  giving. 


It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  while  doing  the  work  indicated  above, 
the  child  should  receive  such  instruction  in  art,  literature,  geography, 
history  and  other  subjects  as  will  furnish  opportunities  for  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  his  imagination  and  the  culture  of  his  sympathies;  such  nurture 
as  will  put  him  in  touch  and  tune  with  life  in  all  its  best  forms. 

We  shall,  one  of  these  days,  see  the  unwisdom  of  sending  the  child  to 
school  when  he  is  five  years  of  age.  The  historian  of  the  future  will 
furnish  in  proof  of  our  semi-civilized  state,  the  fact  that  we  did  not 
allow  the  child  his  first  and  greatest  right,  the  right  to  grow.  Before 
many  years,  the  age  when  the  child  may  enter  school  will  be  raised  to  six ; 
later,  will  be  advanced  to  seven  and  before  the  present  century  closes,  will 
be  fixed  at  eight  years.  The  years  now  devoted  to  the  primary  grades 
will  be  given  to  a  modified  form  of  kindergarten  training.  This  work 
will  be  so  administered  that  the  child  will  become  sturdy  physically, 
intelligent  and  responsive  morally,  and  alert  and  ambitious  intellectually. 
Then  we  shall  not  see  the  limpness  and  indifference  manifest  in  so  many 
children.  They  will  be  allowed  to  start  at  the  beginning,  go  forward  in 
the  paths  in  which  they  are  fitted  by  nature  to  walk,  and  in  the  end 
acquire  that  power  which  natural  conditions  and  wholesome  work,  pur¬ 
sued  according  to  intelligent  methods,  can  give  them. 

These  changes  are  not  to  be  made  at  once  and  it  is  not  best  that  radical 
means  be  adopted  in  bringing  them  about,  but  all  who  are  interested  in 
the  training  of  our  youth,  and  especially  our  school  officials  and  teachers, 
should  give  to  the  problem  stated  above,  such  reading,  study,  investigation 
and  prudent  experiment  as  will,  in  a  reasonable  time,  replace  the  methods 
found  in  our  common  schools  with  such  school  privileges  as  will  permit 
the  child  to  be  the  most  his  capacities  and  abilities  will  allow  him  to 
become. 


17 


SOME  GAINS. 


That  there  has  been  an  increasingly  intelligent  administration  of  our 
schools  during  the  past  few  years  admits  of  no  question.  Parents  are 
^  insisting  that  efficient  teachers  be  placed  in  charge  of  the  instruction  of 

their  children ;  that  school  officials  discharge  the  duties  devolving  upon 
them  with  the  faithfulness  which  characterizes  the  methods  used  by  the 
prudent  individual  in  the  management  of  his  private  affairs ;  and  above 
all,  they  are  assisting  by  their  personal  efforts  and  gifts,  in  making  the 
school  grounds  more  attractive  and  in  supplying  the  schoolrooms  with 
books  and  pictures  for  the  use,  not  only  of  the  teachers  and  pupils,  but 
also  of  the  people  of  the  community  in  which  the  school  is  located. 
School  officials  are  also  making  studies  of  school  sanitation ;  are  urging 
towns  to  make  improvements  in  out-buildings  and  school-buildings;  are 
exercising  greater  care  in  purchasing  material,  and  are  calling  for 
teachers  who  are  scholastically  and  professionally  fitted  to  render  accept¬ 
able  service  in  the  schoolroom.  Teachers  are  attending  Teachers’  Insti¬ 
tutes  and  Summer  Schools  in  larger  numbers  than  ever  before.  They 
show  the  liveliest  interest  in  learning  the  best  methods  of  instruction,  and 
they  are  providing  themselves  with  the  latest  books  on  pedagogy  and  the 
most  useful  magazines  on  schoolroom  work.  Even  the  children  seem  to 
have  caught  the  spirit  which  so  largely  influences  those  who  are  striving 
to  improve  our  common  schools.  Nearly  fifty-five  thousand  members  have 
been  enrolled  in  the  School  Improvement  Leagues  of  Maine.  The  work 
done  by  this  organization  is  valuable  because  of  the  results  accomplished, 
but  is  still  more  useful  in  that  it  is  developing  a  local  interest  in  the  local 
school,  which  in  time  will  result  in  making  it  the  social,  literary  and  art 
center  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located.  Hundreds  of  school  yards 
have  been  graded  and  converted  into  lawns,  and  trees,  shrubs  and  flowers 
have  been  planted  in  a  number  so  large  that  the  figures  seem  almost 
incredible.  Tumbled-down  fences  have  been  replaced  by  those  of  more 
attractive  patterns.  Out-buildings  that  were  a  moral  menace  to  the  chil¬ 
dren  have  been  burned,  and  others  of  improved  construction  have  been 
i  built  in  their  places.  A  large  number  of  school-buildings  have  been 

painted,  and  the  ceilings  and  walls  of  scores  of  schoolrooms  have  been 
papered  or  tinted.  The  list  of  materials  furnished  through  the  efforts  of 
the  members  of  the  League  is  too  long  to  be  enumerated  at  this  time.  It 
includes  many  thousand  volumes  of  books,  a  still  larger  number  of  pic¬ 
tures,  globes,  maps,  charts  and  other  apparatus,  and  utensils  without 
number.  The  organization  has  been  in  existence  a  little  more  than  three 
years.  Its  work  has  been  so  far-reaching  that  it  has  practically  produced 
a  revolution  in  many  communities. 


SOME  CONDITIONS. 

While  great  gains  have  been  made,  it  is  clear  that  a  larger  work  remains 
to  be  performed  than  has  yet  been  accomplished.  It  is  true  that  parents, 
school  officials,  teachers  and  pupils  are  working  together  for  the  better¬ 
ment  of  our  schools  with  an  energy  and  efficiency  never  before  seen  in 
this  State,  yet  it  is  also  true  that  certain  things  must  be  done  before  our 
schools  can  properly  serve  the  children.  Each  succeeding  decade  places 
larger  responsibilities  upon  the  shoulders  of  those  who  have  come  upon 
the  stage  of  action  than  fell  to  the  lot  of  their  predecessors.  To  be  able 
to  do  this  work  with  credit  to  themselves  and  for  the  greatest  good  of 
those  for  whom  it  is  done,  the  doers  must  have  the  best  blood,  nurture, 
environment  and  training  that  thought,  study,  skill,  money  and  effort  can 
give  them. 

There  are  several  problems  facing  our  people  at  the  present  time  in  our 
school  affairs.  The  first  is,  equal  school  privileges  for  all  children  of 
school  age.  About  one-third  of  the  sum  necessary  for  maintaining  the 
common  schools  of  Maine  is  furnished  from  the  State  treasury.  While 
it  is  true  that  forty-seven  per  cent,  of  the  towns  receive  a  receipt  in  full 
for  their  State  taxes,  and,  in  addition,  a  check  for  the  balance  due  on 
funds  apportioned,  yet  there  are  certain  considerations  which  it  would 
seem  have  not  received  their  merited  weight  in  this  matter  of  providing 
equal  educational  opportunities  for  all  the  children  of  the  State.  No 
other  equal  population  in  this  country  has  furnished  so  large  a  body  of 
men  and  women  who  have  been  leaders  in  all  fields  of  human  activity  as 
has  been  found  here  in  the  State  of  Maine.  These  results  have  been  due 
to  several  efficient  causes.  Our  people  are  fortunate  in  having  a  quality 
of  blood  which  makes  it  natural  for  them  to  be  ambitious  of  holding 
places  of  trust  and  rendering  a  service  of  worth.  It  has  also  kept  active 
within  them  the  desire  to  attain  distinction  because  of  merit.  The  homes 
of  Maine  have  been  domestic  universities,  in  which  those  stalwart  quali¬ 
ties  are  found  which  characterize  persons  of  intelligent  will,  enduring 
energy,  conspicuous  mental  ability,  fine  moral  quality  and  conquering 
effort.  Chores  and  testing  responsibilities  have  bred  in  our  young  people 
the  wish  to  be,  a  love  for  work,  a  determination  to  achieve,  and  the 
courage  which  refuses  to  recognize  obstacles.  The  sacrifices  which  have 
been  made  by  parents  and  children  that  the  boys  and  girls  might  go  to 
the  academy  and  then  on  to  college,  have  helped  in  fitting  these  same  boys 
and  girls  for  stations  of  trust.  These  experiences  have  developed  in 
them  the  capacity  to  meet  emergencies,  and  the  power  to  solve  trying 
problems  and  to  reach  decisions  for  which  there  was  no  precedent.  The 
drudging  toil,  the  pinching  economy,  the  struggle  for  subsistence,  the 
effort  necessary  to  insure  advancement,  have  all  been  school-masters  in 
the  training  of  those  who  have  given  our  State  its  quality  and  other  states 
their  sanest  clergymen,  most  successful  teachers,  soundest  jurists,  ablest 
statesmen,  wisest  captains  of  industry  and  greatest  poets.  No  true  son 
or  daughter  of  Maine  will  permit,  if  possible  to  prevent,  the  dimming 
of  the  lustre  which  these  men  and  women  have  made  a  part  of  our 


proud  inheritance.  We  rejoice  in  the  work  they  did,  the  service  they 
rendered,  the  results  they  achieved,  and  the  glory  which  is  theirs  and 

ours. 

We  shall  be  wise  if  we  learn  the  lesson,  so  clearly  taught  by  history, 
that  the  machinery  so  useful  in  yesterday’s  living  cannot  be  used  in 
to-day’s  work.  What  was  sufficient  for  days  that  are  gone  will  not 
serve  in  the  day  in  which  we  live.  We  have  passed  beyond  our  pioneer 
period.  We  are  living  in  the  day  when  the  burden  of  each  must  be 
the  concern  of  all.  In  the  old  days  of  isolation,  man  was  not  his  brother’s 
keeper  in  the  sense  he  must  be  in  these  days  when  all  communities  are 
neighbors  and  the  most  distant  often  sit  at  our  hearthstone.  The  electric 
car,  the  steam  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the  newspaper,  the  magazine, 
make  intimate  companions  of  those  who  live  miles  apart.  Frequent 
change  of  location  has  become  a  part  of  the  progress  of  our  era.  The 
boy  bred  upon  the  farm  comes  to  one  of  the  centres  of  population  to 
dig  out  for  himself  a  place  in  the  community  in  which  he  makes  his  new 
home.  The  dweller  in  the  city  goes  back  to  his  ancestral  acres  to  rebuild 
the  old  home  in  more  stately  form,  and  brings  into  this  rural  community 
the  enlightening  and  ennobling  elements  of  urban  life.  He  brings  its 
culture,  refinement,  love  of  the  beautiful,  the  desire  for  those  things 
which  are  best — those  things  which  stimulate  and  inspire  and  give  grace 
and  beauty  to  life.  He  brings  a  broader  horizon  into  clearer  skies.  He 
brings  the  latest  thought,  the  newest  invention,  the  touch  with  the  world, 
and  stirs  those  with  whom  he  comes  in  contact  to  a  better  thought  and 
a  wider  vision;  to  a  desire  to  know,  a  capacity  to  enjoy,  a  recognition 
of  the  usefulness  of  comeliness.  This  intercourse  gives  us  a  common 
interest  in  all  children  born  within  the  State.  We  have  a  common 
concern  about  the  character  of  the  homes  from  which  they  come,  the 
quality  of  the  schools  in  which  they  are  trained,  and  the  worth  and 
strength  it  is  possible  for  them  to  attain. 

It  is  the  best  judgment  of  those  who  have  made  the  most  careful 
studies  of  the  subject,  that  a  large  majority  of  our  citizens  are  willing 
to  bear  their  full  share  of  the  burden  imposed  by  the  State  in  providing 
for  the  expenses  incident  to  the  management  of  its  affairs  and  the  main¬ 
taining  of  the  institutions  under  its  control.  Citizens  possessed  of 
wealth,  as  a  rule,  are  disposed  to  recognize  that  they  are  safer  in  their 
person,  securer  in  their  property,  if  suitable  schools  are  provided  for 
the  children,  if  convenient  roads  are  maintained  as  highways  of  travel, 
if  public  institutions  are  supported  in  such  a  way  as  to  furnish  the  pro¬ 
tection  and  care  needed  by  the  unfortunate,  and  if  all  the  functions  of 
government  are  so  discharged  as  to  hold  the  vicious  in  subjection  and 
encourage  the  virtuous  in  their  labors.  The  administration  of  all  these 
interests  involves  the  expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money.  If  this  is 
wisely  done  and  the  burden  is  equitably  distributed  among  those  who 
are  protected  and  benefited,  then  each  can  contribute  his  share  without 
hardship  to  himself. 


20 


EQUAL  SCHOOL  PRIVILEGES. 

There  are  many  advantages  in  being  born  in  a  rural  community.  The 
simplicity  of  country  life  makes  it  possible  for  those  enjoying  its  benefits 
to  grow  into  the  possession  of  unusual  powers.  There  are  certain  dis¬ 
advantages  incident  to  city  life.  The  distractions  of  the  street,  the  fas¬ 
cinations  of  entertainment,  the  absence  of  home  cares  and  duties  which 
develop  resolute  fibre,  and  the  enervating  contact  which  brushes  the 
bloom  from  youth  and  takes  the  zest  out  of  young  life,  are  to  be  reckoned 
with  in  the  care  and  training  of  children.  Much  of  the  best  blood  found 
in  our  population  has  come  from  the  farm  homes.  That  it  should  come 
flowing  in  the  veins  of  cultured  men  and  women  is  of  vital  interest  to 
those  who  make  up  the  population  of  our  cities.  A  large  proportion  of 
the  profitable  trade  of  the  cities  is  found  in  the  rural  communities.  All 
students  of  industrial  affairs  are  aware  that  it  is  the  educated  person 
who  demands  a  home  with  all  the  conveniences  and  adornments  of 
modern  life.  The  citizen  who  has  had  the  best  training  demands  the 
best  environment.  If  those  who  are  now  living  in  our  cities  are:  to  find 
for  themselves  congenial  homes  in  our  country  towns,  they  must  go 
among  a  people  fitted  by  culture  and  desire  to  be  not  only  their  com¬ 
panions  but  their  peers.  If  these  considerations  have  in  them  aught  of 
merit,  then  all  our  people  have  a  common  interest  in  furnishing  equal 
school  privileges  for  all  the  school  children  of  the  State.  The  boy  who 
lives  at  the  end  of  a  tote-path  should  have  an  opportunity  to  learn  to 
read,  write  and  cipher,  at  the  expense  of  his  parents  and  the  parents  of 
the  boy  who  lives  on  the  aristocratic  street  of  the  metropolis.  They 
have  an  equal  financial  investment  in  this  youth,  and  they  should  be  held 
responsible  for  such  schooling  as  will  make  him  largely  useful  in  what¬ 
ever  work  he  may  undertake  or  station  he  may  fill.  The  time  has  come 
when  narrow-visioned  selfishness  should  give  place  to  broad  ideas  of 
civic  duty.  We  can  no  longer  attempt  to  settle  this  question  by  deter¬ 
mining  what  we  imagine  will  be  our  present  money  gain.  We  must  be 
just  and,  if  it  be  necessary,  we  must  be  generous.  Those  who  are 
favored  with  large  possessions  must  meet  like  men  the  responsibility 
which  wealth  places  upon  them.  The  widow’s  son  must  have  an  equal 
chance  with  the  millionaire’s  boy  in  the  struggle  not  only  for  existence 
but  for  usefulness.  The  wise  man  of  wealth  knows  that  what  he  invests 
in  this  boy  multiplies  his  dollars  and  keeps  them  at  par.  It  is  as  true 
of  the  State  as  of  the  individual  that  it  cannot  do  the  best  for  the  humblest 
of  its  citizens  without  doing  the  best  for  the  best  conditioned  of  its  people. 
Whatever  helps  those  in  need  of  assistance  helps  infinitely  more  those 
who  give  this  aid.  All  questions  are,  in  their  last  analysis,  moral  ques¬ 
tions.  Those  who  fail  to  meet  moral  responsibilities  worthily,  must 
suffer  certain  deterioration. 


21 


EXPENDITURE  OF  PUBLIC  FUNDS. 

Circumstances  have  made  it  necessary  for  the  people  of  Maine  to  be 
frugal,  both  in  their  private  expenses  and  public  expenditures.  While 
our  State  is  found  near  the  top  in  the  list  of  the  wealthy  states  of  the 
Union,  yet  we  have  never  had  a  large  number  of  citizens  who  were  pos¬ 
sessed  of  great  holdings.  Our  wealth  has  been  evenly  distributed,  and 
for  that  reason  habits  of  thrift  have  been  cultivated  and  strict  economy 
has  been  necessary.  We  have  gained  the  strength  and  capacity  which 
comes  from  acquiring  property,  and  we  have  developed  the  wisdom  and 
sagacity  which  results  from  careful  investment.  Large  inheritances  are 
not  always  a  blessing  and  sometimes  they  are  an  injury  to  those  receiv¬ 
ing  them.  Things  won  by  our  own  efforts  are  worth  more  than  they 
will  bring  in  the  market.  They  give  not  only  security  against  want,  but 
ability  to  do  still  more  and  better  work.  The  thought,  care,  struggle, 
study,  effort,  necessary  to  accumulate  worldly  goods  breed  in  their  pos¬ 
sessor  the  power  to  labor,  the  ability  to  think,  the  desire  to  acquire,  the 
self-respect  which  ownership  gives  and  the  dignity  which  follows  the 
mastery  of  trying  conditions. 

Our  citizens  have  long  been  noted  for  their  ability  to  wring  more  than 
a  subsistence  from  what  has  been  termed  “a  sour  and  unwilling  soil.” 
They  have  done  this  because  of  the  strength  they  have  brought  to  their 
work,  the  brains  they  have  put  into  it,  and  the  faithfulness  with  which 
they  have  devoted  themselves  to  it.  That  they  have  been  successful 
there  can  be  no  question.  That  they  have  merited  these  successes  there 
can  be  no  doubt.  That  they  are  enjoying  the  fruit  of  their  labors  in  well 
conditioned  homes,  many  schools  of  rare  merit,  public  institutions  of 
a  high  grade,  and  a  people  of  the  noble  quality,  goes  without  the  saying. 
Mistakes  have  been  made  in  the  over  zealousness  with  which  some  have 
struggled  to  enlarge  their  bank  accounts  and  multiply  their  acres.  That 
this  is  true  is  not  strange  or  discouraging.  The  time  has  come  when 
another  phase  of  this  question  must  receive  more  careful  attention  than 
has  been  given  it  up  to  the  present  time,  if  our  prosperity  is  to  increase 
rather  than  to  diminish.  We  have  been  intelligent  and  successful  in  our 
efforts  to  produce  and  accumulate.  We  have  not  always  been  wise  in 
the  expenditure  of  these  accumulations.  We  have  not  been  sufficiently 
concerned  about  getting  a  dollar’s  worth  of  service  or  material,  or  doing 
a  dollar’s  worth  of  good  with  the  dollar  spent.  In  school  matters  we  have 
not  even  exercised  that  prudence  which  has  characterized  the  manage¬ 
ment  of  our  private  affairs.  We  have  paid  more  for  material  furnished 
than  it  sold  for  in  the  open  market,  and  too  often  we  have  been  content 
with  short  measure,  under  weight,  or  inferior  quality.  Any  one  who 
spends  a  dollar  without  getting  for  it  an  adequate  return,  wrongs  both 
himself  and  the  person  to  whom  it  is  paid.  He  wrongs  himself  because 
the  possession  of  the  dollar  places  upon  him  the  responsibility  of  its 
intelligent  and  honest  expenditure.  He  wrongs  the  person  to  whom  it 
is  paid  because  he  assists  in  developing  in  him  a  dishonest  spirit,  and 
doing  something  which  is  infinitely  worse,  destroying  his  self-respect. 


22 


One  who  receives  a  dollar  without  giving  for  it  its  equivalent,  either  is 
content  to  be  dishonest,  or  lives  under  the  stinging  accusation  which  in 
the  end  will  work  his  corruption. 

While  many  of  these  statements  may  seem  to  have  a  general  appli¬ 
cation,  still  the  special  purpose  in  introducing  them  at  this  time  is  to  call 
the  attention  of  school  officials,  teachers  and  parents,  to  the  necessity  of 
so  conducting  all  the  business  administration  of  the  school  as  to  teach 
the  important  and  wholesome  lesson  that  it  is  as  necessary  to  spend  money 
honestly,  as  to  acquire  it  by  honest  means ;  that  possession  carries  with 
it  certain  duties ;  that  the  same  care  should  be  used  in  spending  the  money 
belonging  to  the  public  as  prudent  people  exercise  in  the  expenditure  of 
their  private  funds,  and  that  these  principles  should  be  exemplified  in 
every  transaction  to  which  school  officials  are  parties.  It  is  a  part  of 
the  business  of  the  school  to  teach  by  its  administration  and  by  its 
instruction  the  necessity  and  the  righteousness  of  thrift,  economy,  pru¬ 
dence,  forethought  and  honesty,  in  the  acquiring  and  disbursing  of  private 
and  public  funds. 

The  study  which  was-  made  of  the  waste  existing  in  the  management 
of  our  schools,  some  years  since,  puts  beyond  all  question  the  necessity 
for  school  officials  giving  much  attention  to  this  important  subject. 
While  there  is  no  disposition  to  urge  an  unwise  curtailing  of  appropria¬ 
tions  or  a  niggardly  expenditure  of  school  moneys,  still  it  is  important 
that  all  those  having  charge  of  such  funds  shall  so  use  them  as  to  leave 
their  custodians  with  clear  consciences  and  bring  to  them  the  approval 
of  honest  and  intelligent  citizens. 


LOCAL  SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Local  self-government  has  been  one  of  the  privileges  highly  prized  by 
the  citizens  of  Maine.  It  has  been  a  vital  factor  in  our  growth.  It  has 
given  our  people  a  certain  independence  and  capacity  which  have  made 
them  so  exceptionally  useful  in  the  important  walks  of  life.  While  many 
mistakes  have  been  made,  yet  even  these  blunders  have  been  the  means 
of  helping  communities  to  grow  into  better  conditions.  Any  community 
having  the  responsibility  of  caring  for  its  poor,  constructing  its  roads, 
and  maintaining  its  schools,  must  learn  its  lessons  in  the  expensive  school 
of  experience.  These  lessons  will  not  be  fully  learned  until  much  time 
has  been  consumed  and  large  sums  of  money  have  apparently  been 
wasted.  Unwise  methods  will  be  used  in  caring  for  the  unfortunate ; 
unsuitable  material  and  improper  treatment  of  the  same  will  be  used  in 
building  highways ;  too  large  sums  will  be  paid  for  material  used  in  the 
schon1,  and  iteachers  of  inferior  grade  will  be  employed  to  take  charge 
of  the  instruction  of  the  children.  While  all  these  items  are  conceded, 
yet  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the  training  which  comes  to  people  from 
being  brought  together  in  annual  town  meeting  and  being  furnished  an 
opportunity  to  devise  ways  and  means,  discuss  plans  and  projects,  and 
decide  upon  policies  to  be  adopted,  is  Worth  all  it  costs.  It  stimulates 
a  majority  of  the  citizens  to  think,  study,  read,  consider,  estimate,  weigh, 


decide  and  then  carry  their  decisions  into  effect.  It  is  this  training  which, 
has  made  our  people  ambitious  to  take  positions  of  responsibility  and  fur¬ 
nished  them  with  the  power  which  enables  them  to  fill  these  places  with, 
distinction.  It  is  the  school  in  which  have  been  trained  our  independent, 
thoughtful,  self-respecting,  hardy,  capable  farmers,  lawyers,  physicians, 
teachers,  business  men,  scholars,  authors,  inventors,  statesmen ;  in  fact, 
those  of  every  class  and  kind,  who  have  been  true  to  themselves  and 
helpful  to  others. 

Local  self-government  has  been  a  means  of  grace  to  our  people  and 
should  be  jealously  guarded,  and  any  attempt  to  deprive  them  of  this 
university  should  be  met  with  the  opposition  necessary  to  defeat  the 
movement.  It  would  be  well  for  us,  however,  not  to  be  carried  away 
by  the  clamor  which  excites  alarm,  when  no  occasion  for  anxiety  exists. 
There  has  never  been  a  time  in  the  history  of  the  State  when  the  affairs 
of  the  town  were  more  completely  under  the  control  of  the  residents  of 
the  municipality  than  during  the  past  decade.  While  it  is  true  that  the 
district  system  has  been  abolished,  yet  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that 
many  towns  at  the  present  time  have  not  as  large  a  school  population  as 
many  districts  had  fifty  years  ago.  While  the  unit  of  control  has  been 
changed,  the  extent  of  control  has  not  been  diminished.  It  is  still  the 
duty  of  the  town  to  elect  school  officials,  and  to  give  such  instructions 
and  directions  as  it  sees  fit.  Any  failure  on  the  part  of  these  officials  to 
comply  with  the  wishes  of  the  people,  may  be  followed  by  the  dismissal 
of  these  officers  at  the  next  town  meeting.  School  officers  are  quite  as 
likely  to  err  in  being  too  sensitive  to  the  sometimes  violently  expressed 
wishes  of  factions  found  in  towns  as  they  are  to  refuse  to  carry  out  the 
wishes  of  the  majority.  It  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  town  elects 
its  school  officers,  that  through  these  officials  it  has  charge  of  its  teaching 
force,  determines  the  subjects  in  which  instruction  shall  be  given,  the 
length  of  time  for  which  schools  shall  be  maintained  and  through  this 
agency  controls  every  item  and  detail  connected  with  the  administration 
and  management  of  the  local  schools.  It  is  not  necessary  to  remark 
that  the  State  establishes  certain  minimum  conditions  which  must  be 
complied  with  provided  the  town  wishes  to  receive  its  proportion  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Common  School  Fund. 

The  law  passed  a  few  years  since,  authorizing  towns  to  unite  for  the 
purpose  of  employing  a  superintendent  of  schools,  in  no  way  takes  from 
the  powers  or  in  any  form  limits  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  the 
citizens  of  the  town.  Under  this  law,  school  committees  are  elected  in 
the  same  way  as  under  the  former,  and  they  are  given  the  same  powers. 
The  superintendent  has  neither  more  nor  less  of  authority  than  under 
the  general  statute.  He  is  elected  for  the  same  length  of  time,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  same  forms  and  discharges  his  duties  under  the  same  limi¬ 
tations  as  if  he  were  the  superintendent  of  a  single  town.  The  entering 
upon  this  arrangement  depends  upon  the  vote  of  the  town.  The  power 
to  continue  in  it  must  come  from  the  same  source.  The  town  is  at 
liberty  to  withdraw  whenever  a  majority  of  the  voters  see  fit  to  do  so. 
In  no  way  is  the  'town  relieved,  or  excused,  or  limited  in  the  control  of 
its  schools  if  it  takes  advantage  of  this  law. 


24 


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37523 


While  it  is  true  that  local  self-government  is  a  privilege  to  be  highly 
prized,  carefully  guarded  and  intelligently  used,  and  while  it  is  also  true 
that  it  furnishes  the  best  means  yet  devised  by  man  for  permitting  a 
certain  kind  of  necessary  training,  yet  it  is  also  well  for  us  not  to  forget 
that  many  unfortunate  things  will  be  done.  We  may,  however,  remem¬ 
ber,  with  some  satisfaction,  that  growth,  to  an  extent,  depends  upon 
mistakes,  and  that  experience  has  taught  us  that  it  is  better  for  us  to 
have  the  responsibility  and  make  the  blunders  and  grow  into  better 
things,  than  to  have  those  affairs  which  concern  us  most  vitally,  managed 
by  others  and  have  no  so-called  errors  made.  In  the  one  case  growth 
is  possible;  in  the  other,  degeneration  in  certain. 

But  perhaps  the  greatest  blessing  coming  to  the  schools  because  of 
local  self-government,  is  the  local  interest  which  will  be  developed  in  the 
local  school.  When  the  parent  assists  in  the  enlarging  and  grading  of 
the  school  grounds,  the  providing  of  a  suitable  fence  to  enclose  it,  the 
erecting  of  safe  out-buildings,  the  tinting  or  papering  of  schoolroom 
walls  and  ceilings,  the  supplying  of  books  for  the  general  reading  of  his 
children,  and  pictures  for  their  culture  and  pleasure,  he  will  be  doing 
something  more  than  doing  all  these  things ;  he  will  be  making  a  stronger, 
nobler,  cleaner  man  of  himself.  One  cannot  be  interested  in  good  things 
without  becoming  better.  One  cannot  help  others  without  doing  much 
for  himself.  One  cannot  serve  without  being  served. 

Experience  has  taught  us  that  it  is  not  best  for  the  towns  to  furnish 
the  means  for  doing  the  things  indicated  above.  The  work  done  by  the 
School  Improvement  Leagues  makes  it  clear  that  it  is  best  that  these 
things  be  supplied  by  the  residents  of  the  communities  in  which  they  are 
provided,  to  the  end  that  the  schoolroom  may  be  the  social,  literary  and 
art  centre  of  the  community  in  which  it  is  located.  When  all  our  citizens 
are  ready  so  to  consider  it,  and  are  willing  to  help  so  to  make  it,  then 
we  shall  have  a  local  sentiment  which  will  make  not  only  the  local  school 
better  but  local  self-government  will  be  vindicated  and  local  control  will 
be  assured. 


